Lord help me always keep first things first, and may every soldier and officer alike be ever mindful of our "orders" to preach the good news to all creation.
(This is from the "O & R's" pages 15 and 18, Part 2 – The officer's principal responsibility – soul-winning)
As The Salvation Army was raised up by God to bring men and women to experience the saving power of God, an officer’s first duty is to further this purpose. Every officer should personally seek to bring the sinner to God and, by example as well as precept, to train his people in their divine task. It hardly needs to be said that like officer, like soldier. Where an officer is zealous in soul-winning, so will his people be. Where he is indifferent, his spirit can affect the entire corps. Other duties – such as planning meetings, caring for his people, attending to fund-raising – are all essential, but nothing should take priority over this primary duty for which he has been specially trained. This applies to all officers, whatever their specific appointment may be.
The officer will not be content if the work of the Army is better understood, or if his youth sections flourish, or if he secures more time on the mass media for the Army’s message, unless these become the means whereby young and old alike personally commit themselves to Jesus as Savior and Lord. To this end he will not only make use of the Army’s time honored methods of evangelism, adapting them in the most effective way possible to the needs of the hour, but he will courageously experiment with new ways of making Jesus known as Savior of men. In other words, he will be willing to be dedicated to failure. In the divine economy this could be the way to God-glorifying success.
Officers, Soldiers, & Followers of Christ, tell someone today that Jesus is the only way to escape hell and be saved for heaven. Remind the "believers" that we are "saved to saved" and remind a "saint" that we are "saved from sin and from sinning".
Live Holy and preach Jesus today!
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